They remained silent for an age, staring at each other, neither of them seemingly wanting to speak. The atmosphere around them was charged but uncomfortably different from how it normally was.

“Peaches, I can’t—”

“You can.”

“I’m no good for yo—”

“Don’t you fucking dare say that!” Sadness gave way to anger. “You are good enough! Christ, you have to know that!”

Carter didn’t answer and continued to look down at the floor. Kat’s heart fractured painfully. Jesus, they were back at square one.

Kat took a tentative step toward him. “Promise me you’ll stay. Promise me you won’t leave.”

He scrunched his eyes shut and bit his bottom lip, but she didn’t care. She needed to hear the words. At that moment, it was the most important thing. Nothing else mattered.

“Carter.”

“Okay,” he answered in a lifeless voice. “I promise.”

“Promise that you won’t leave. Say it.”

He lifted his head and looked at her, but something deep in Kat’s heart told her he was seeing straight through her, and it hurt. It hurt so much.

“I promise I won’t leave.”

He was so crushed, so broken, and Kat hated that she was helpless in putting him back together. “Okay,” she whispered. “Okay.”

Silently, she moved around the room, pulling on a pair of jeans and sneakers. She tied his T-shirt at her right hip and pulled her hair up into a loose ponytail.

“I’ll be right back.” She stood at the doorway with the crumpled brown envelope in her fist. “And then we’re out of here.”

“Kat, I—” She waited for him to continue but, instead, he cracked the knuckles of his right hand and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

With a lead weight in her stomach and a splintering heart, Kat opened the bedroom door. “I’ll be right back.”

* * *

She walked with purpose and dignity into the sitting room, unable to make out any of the words of the obviously heated conversation taking place between Harrison and her mother by a large bay window. The snow had fallen hard overnight, covering the gardens in a winter blanket.

Nana Boo was absent, which pleased Kat. Nana Boo didn’t deserve to see or hear what was about to happen. The fact that her mother had come into Nana Boo’s the way she had, and on Thanksgiving, made Kat’s teeth grind. Seriously, who was the parent here?

Kat stopped with a straight back, arms folded, when Eva caught her eye. “I thought you were at Harrison’s parents’? What are you doing here?”

Eva stared back. “Do not speak to me that way, Katherine.”

“And don’t tell me what to do,” she retorted. “How dare you come into my room, into Nana’s house that way?”

An edge of remorse stole across Eva’s mouth. “Nana is fine. It’s you I’m worried about, furious with, actually.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because my daughter doesn’t speak to me, answer my calls. My daughter, who not only works in a damned prison but is running around town with—with that—”

“Be careful,” Kat warned when Eva waved toward the doorway.

Eva blanched and a flash of hurt lit her eyes. “I am here to put a stop to this.”

Kat scoffed. “Do you know how ridiculous you’re being?”

“What is ridiculous is you’re putting your entire career, your reputation, and maybe even your life on the line for some delinquent waste of space—”

Kat flew toward her mother, stopping only inches away from her. “You do not speak about him that way!”

Kat’s proximity and the ferocity emanating from her every pore made Eva pause.

“Calm down,” Harrison said at her side. He raised his hand toward Kat’s shoulder but dropped it. “Just both of you, please, calm down.”

Eva swallowed. “You may not believe it, but I’m doing this because I love you, Katherine. The prison is no good for you. He’s no good for you.”

“You don’t even know him,” Kat spat. “You never even gave him a chance.”

Eva was incredulous. “And how was I supposed to do that when you carried on behind my back? I had to find out from Beth, from Nana!”

“And it’s such a big mystery why I didn’t tell you!”

“Because you knew it was wrong!” Eva countered. “For God’s sake, you could get into so much trouble.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

Eva’s face grimaced in puzzlement. “Then why are you—?”

“You have done nothing but make me feel like a disappointment ever since I started working at Arthur Kill. Nothing I’ve done since I took that job has been good enough for you; even the man I love is a disappointment in your eyes.”

Eva scoffed. “Oh, please, you don’t love him.”

“With everything that I am,” Kat said imploringly. “You have no idea what I’ve been through these past few months, Mom. How hard it was to face my biggest fears at Kill, to confront what has kept me awake for the past sixteen years.”

Eva’s face pinched.

“But Carter’s been there for me, with me, helping me and caring for me when no one else would.” Kat turned her face toward the ceiling, furious that her mother would even dare to cry. “When I left here that night, it was Carter who took care of me, and never once has he said or done anything to me that warrants such narrow-mindedness from you.”

“He’s a criminal.”

“Like Dad?”

Eva took an unsteady step backward. Her face held an expression of complete shock, but her glistening eyes told Kat it was checkmate. Kat pushed the crumpled envelope against her mother’s chest.

“I wonder,” Kat mused. “Did Grandpa’s hatred make you want to walk away from the man you loved, or did it push you further into his arms?”

Eva stared at the envelope in her hands.

“You should have told me, Mom. It wasn’t Nana’s job to tell me about Dad’s past,” Kat said angrily. “Instead of judging me, instead of judging Carter; you should have been honest with me first.” She willed her tears back. “How could you lie? How could you make me feel so alone?”

“I never wanted that,” Eva answered. “I just … I want you protected, Katherine. You’re all I—I didn’t tell you because I want what’s best for you.”

“Carter is what’s best for me. He may have made bad choices, but he’s a good man and I love him.”

Eva closed her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t lose my daughter, too. I won’t. You’re risking too much!”

“Carter isn’t dangerous!” Kat exploded. “Jesus, Mom. He protects me. He’s protected me since I was nine years old!”

Eva’s face changed to one of perplexity. “What do you mean?”

“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you. You don’t trust a thing I do or say.”

“That’s not true,” Eva argued. “I just—”

“What, Mom?” Kat huffed in exasperation. “Worry? Get scared? Guess what? So do I.”

Eva moved closer. “Listen to me, Katherine. Come home with me. Let’s talk. I can’t keep fighting with you like this. I want us to go back to how we were before all this.” She wrung her hands together. “Don’t you see? This is all because of that damned job, because of him.”

Kat bit her tongue, halting the vitriol that threatened to spill. “I need to be with Carter.” She turned on her heel and made for the door.

“Katherine, wait!”

Kat stopped, took a breath, and turned slowly.

“Talk to me,” her mother urged, pain lacing her features. “I … I want to make this better. I want to make us better.” Frustration and hurt were clear in the sharpness of her shoulders. “I hate that we’re like this. I want … I want my daughter back. Please. I love you.”

Kat fought back the urge to go to her mother and find comfort in her arms. God, she was tired. They’d never fought this way before, never been so far removed from each other. Even after Kat’s father had died and Eva had fallen into herself, there were still moments of affection and hope. A part of Kat’s heart wanted there to be a resolution to the bullshit separating them now, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen. Too much had been said. There was no bridge big enough to cross the divide gaping between them.